Daily GK Updates - 14th Sept, 2020

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Odisha govt launches ‘GARIMA’ scheme for sanitation workers: The Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik has launched a new scheme named ‘GARIMA’ which aims to ensure the economic safety and social dignity of core sanitation workers in the state. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development Department, Odisha has signed a Ministry of Understanding (MoU) with not-for-profit organisation Urban Management Centre for providing the technical support to implement the scheme. Under ‘GARIMA’ scheme:

(1) Around 20,000 core sanitation workers and their families with about one lakh population will benefit from the scheme.

(2) GARIMA Scheme will be implemented by the state Housing and Urban Development department in all the 114 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) of Odisha.

(3) Initially, the state government has allocated a corpus fund of Rs 50 crore for the scheme.

(4) The working hours of sanitation workers will be limited to 6 hours per day.

(5) The Core Sanitation workers and their family members will be covered under the health insurance scheme with regular health check-ups, housing, educational support, mobility support and mobile support.

Note: Odisha Capital: Bhubaneswar; Odisha Governor: Ganeshi Lal.

 

2. PM Modi dedicates to Nation three key projects related to Petroleum sector in Bihar: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation three key projects related to the Petroleum sector in Bihar worth more than Rs 900 crore via video conferencing on 13 September 2020. The projects include: Durgapur-Banka section of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur Pipeline Augmentation Project and Two LPG Bottling Plants- in East Champaran and Banka.

Durgapur-Banka section: The 193-km long Durgapur-Banka pipeline section has been built by state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC). It is a part of the 679-km Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur Pipeline Augmentation Project, for which the foundation stone was laid by PM Modi on February 17, 2019.

The pipeline has a diameter of 14-inch and will pass through West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar.

LPG Bottling Plants: The LPG Bottling Plants in East Champaran and Banka have a combined capacity to fill around 80 thousand cylinders per day and more than 125 million cylinders every year. The cost of Banka Plant is Rs 131.75 crore and of East Champaran Plant is Rs 136.4 crore.

These LPG Bottling Plants will empower the Atmanirbhar Bihar’ by meeting the rising demand for LPG in the state. They have been commissioned by Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL).

 

3. National Hindi Day: 14th September: Hindi Divas or Hindi Day is an annual day celebrated on 14 September in India to celebrate the popularity of Hindi as an official language of the country. Hindi Divas is celebrated on 14 September because on this day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India had adopted Hindi written in Devanagari script as the official language of the Republic of India. The language was adopted under Article 343 of the Indian Constitution. The first Hindi day was celebrated on 14th September 1953. Later, Pt Jawaharlal Nehru announced this day to be celebrated as Hindi Diwas in the country.

There are 22 Scheduled languages of India, of which, two are officially used at Union government of India level: Hindi and English. Hindi is the fourth most spoken language of the world. Hindi Divas is celebrated on 14 September because, on this day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India had adopted Hindi written in Devanagari script as the official language of the Republic of India.

 

4. Assam State Rural Livelihoods Mission and NESFB sign MoU: Assam State Rural Livelihoods Mission (ASRLM) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with North East Small Finance Bank (NESFB) to work in cohesion in support of Bank Linkage of the Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and Producer Groups/ Enterprises under ASRLM. ASRLM is the first amongst all the State Livelihood Missions to initiate the signing of MoU with the new generation small finance banks. This collaboration of ASRLM and NESFB will cater to the financial needs of many SHG members, other higher level federation like VOs, CLFs, Producer Groups, Producer Collectives etc. to kick-start their dream projects of livelihood enhancement.

 

5. Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman appointed as Chairman of Supreme Court Legal Services Committee: The Central Authority has appointed Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman as the Chairman of the Supreme Court legal services committee. Justice Nariman takes over the post following the retirement of Justice Arun Mishra, who held the post since November last year. The committee has been constituted for implementing the legal services programme in connection with the top court.

 

6. CIPET to establish two new Centres for Skilling and Technical Support at Bhagalpur & Varanasi: Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering & Technology (CIPET) under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers will be shortly establishing two new Centres for Skilling and Technical Support- CSTS at Bhagalpur (Bihar) and Varanasi (UP). Every year 1000 youths will be trained in each centre through Diploma & Skill Development programmes for gainful employment in petrochemicals & allied industries. Presently CIPET has 43 operational centres and 9 more centres are in the process of establishment across the country catering to the needs of Polymer and allied industries.

 

7. EPFO decides to pay 8.5% interest during 2019-20: The Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar chaired the 227th Meeting of the Central Board of Trustees of Employees’ Provident Fund. In view of the exceptional circumstances arising out of Covid-19, the Central Board has recommended the same interest rate at 8.50 per cent to the Central Government. It would comprise of 8.15 per cent from debt income and balance 0.35 per cent capital gain from the sale of Exchange Traded Funds, ETFs subject to their redemption by 31st December this year.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. V Muraleedharan participates in 27th ASEAN regional forum: Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan participated in the 27th ASEAN regional forum. During the 27th ASEAN regional forum, the minister shared India’s views on maritime security, counter terrorism as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. He also stated that India will co-chair ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) workshops on port security and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a regional intergovernmental organisation. This organisation promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and socio-cultural integration among its members and other Asian states. It comprises of 10 Southeast Asian countries namely: Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, The Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei and Laos.

 

2. ADB & Suguna Foods Private Limited signs $15 million deal: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed an agreement for $15 million of debt financing through the subscription of nonconvertible debentures for Suguna Foods Private Limited (Suguna). The deal will help in sustaining poultry farming operations, as well as rural livelihoods and food security in India during the COVID-19 pandemic. With this deal, the ADB will offer essential liquidity support to Suguna’s operations and also help the company build inventory buffers and make timely payments to contract farmers and suppliers. It will also encourage local lenders to support the business and help attract other medium- and long-term capital and international partners.

Note: President of Asian Development Bank: Masatsugu Asakawa.

 

3. Andhra Pradesh government signs MoUs with Netherlands, 7 firms on food processing, marketing: The Andhra Pradesh State government signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with the Netherlands government and seven companies in food processing, marketing and technologies, to benefit the horticulture and aquaculture farmers across the State.  These MOUs will help the food processing sector of various agricultural products, including bananas, tomatoes, mangoes, sugar, chillies, vegetables, and aqua products. AP has also entered into an agreement with the following firms, Tiruchirappalli-based ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana, Pune-based Futuretech Foods Private Limited, Big Basket, ITC, Lawrencedale Agro Processing India Private Limited, IFB and Empire Company.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Dominic Thiem wins US Open Men’s Tennis Tournament 2020: Austria’s Dominic Thiem defeated Alexander Zverev to win the men’s singles title at the 2020 US Open tournament. It was Thiem’s first Grand Slam title, and he becomes the first player in the Open Era to rally from two sets down in a US Open final. Thiem is also the first player to capture a Grand Slam title from two sets down since Gaston Gaudio at 2004 French Open. For the first time in six years, there was a first-time Grand Slam champion at the US Open.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. NABARD to Disburse Rs 1.20 Lakh Crore Crop Loan to Farmers This Fiscal: In a bid to support agri sector amid COVID-19 crisis, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development said it aims to disburse Rs 1.20 lakh crore crop loan to farmers for meeting production expenses this fiscal. Apex agriculture financial institution Nabard annually disbursed Rs 90,000 crore crop loan at a concessional rate. With the help of Rs 1 lakh crore Agriculture Infrastructure Fund under the Atmanirbhar Bharat package will foster infrastructure for the sector.Under the scheme, Rs 10,000 crore has been earmarked for the current fiscal and Rs 30,000 crore each year for the next three years.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Razorpay launches collateral free line of credit for SMEs: In a bid to rescue MSMEs and improve their cash flows, Razorpay has launched a collateral free line of credit called Cash Advance. MSMEs can borrow working capital with a credit limit of Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh, within 10 seconds through the Razorpay dashboard, depending upon the credit history of the business. With this, Razorpay aims to support businesses with upto Rs 100 crores of credit by end of 2020.

Note: Razorpay CEO: Harshil Mathur; Founded: 2013; Headquarters location: Bengaluru

 

2. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance joins hands with NSDL Payments Bank to offer insurance: ICICI Prudential Life Insurance joined hands with NSDL Payments Bank to provide its products to customers of payments bank. Under the agreement, customers of NSDL Payments Bank will have access to ICICI Prudential Life’s products. This partnership helps IPru Life to increase presence on new-age distribution touch-points. This is also an effort by IPru Life to cover the uninsured population of the country by offering its life insurance POS products on NSDL Payment Bank’s point of sale (POS) network, across the country.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. Indian Film ‘The Disciple’ by Chaitanya Tamhane wins Best Screenplay award at Venice Film Festival 2020: The Marathi language feature film ‘The Disciple’ written and directed by Mumbai-based filmmaker Chaitanya Tamhane, has bagged the prestigious FIPRESCI award for Best Screenplay at the 77th Venice Film Festival. The annual Venice International Film Festival 2020 was held from 2 to 12 September 2020. The Disciple is the first Indian film to have been selected in a major competition category at a European festival in 20 years after Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding in 2001. The award is presented by ‘ The International Federation of Film Critics, FIPRESCI (Federation Internationale de la Presse CInematographique).

 

DEFENCE

 

1. DRDO develops P-7 Heavy Drop System capable of para dropping military stores: Defence Research and Development Organization, DRDO has developed P-7 Heavy Drop System which is capable of para dropping military stores up to seven-tonne weight class from IL- 76 aircraft. It consists of a platform and specialized parachute system. The parachute system is a multi-stage system comprises of five Main canopies, five Brake chutes, two Auxiliary chutes, one Extractor parachute and platform is a metallic structure made up of Aluminium or steel alloys. The system has been developed successfully with 100 per cent indigenous resources. P-7 Heavy Drop System has been inducted in the Army.